Problem: Add. $48.5 + 37.1 =$
Answer: There are many ways to solve this problem. Let's see two ways we can solve it. Place value table Let's line up the numbers by their decimal places. Tens Ones $.$ Tenths ${4}$ ${8}$ $.$ ${5}$ $3$ $7$ $.$ ${1}$ Now, let's add each place value column. Tens Ones $.$ Tenths $\overset{1}{4}$ ${{8}}$ $.$ ${5}$ $+$ $3$ ${7}$ $.$ ${1}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $8$ $5$ $.$ $6$ Decomposing the numbers We can group the whole numbers together and the decimals together. $\begin{aligned} &({48} + {37}) + ({0.5} + {0.1})\\\\ &={85} + {0.6}\\\\ &=85.6 \end{aligned}$ $48.5 + 37.1= 85.6$